The Marionette
by R.K. Wesley
Summary: I once had the pleasure to go to Freddy's before the financial ruins that came after, and I thought I was in Nirvana... Until I met something I really wish I hadn't.


I recall faintly the first time I ever been to Freddy's, it was quite a treat of have gone since my family's budget was tighter than a belt around the waist and we'd rarely get to do anything like this. The colorful posters lined the wall, decorated with depictions of the Fazbear gang and some art from the children that were hung up as well. What made Freddy's better than any other pizzeria in the general area, was the animatronics that wandered through the halls, going room to room, and in some cases making children squeal with joy with their songs. And children ran in and out of the game room, where there were prizes that could be redeemed if enough tickets were earned through games. It was a sight to behold, since I never did get to anywhere special, my mother walked with me to the front counter where a man with a name tag presided. He asked my mother would she like the special, where I'd get pizza and a couple of specialty coins to play the games in the game room.

My mother looked at me and I smiled, she accepted and paid for our table. It was closest to the entrance to the game room, and my mother handed me the coins to put into my pocket. I would only be allowed to play after I eaten, which I of course at the time happily agreed. As we waited, I noticed a birthday party in the other room, with children gleefully stuffing themselves with the pizza served, all wearing party hats that had the logo on them. My mother nodded off a bit—she worked day and night so it was normal for her to fall asleep like this. I sat in my seat, impatient, waiting for my pizza to arrive so I could greedily stuff it into my mouth like those children are doing, and so I could head into the game room and play the games. After the impatient waiting, there was a sound of footsteps coming toward me, I looked and there was one of them standing there with a tray of pizza. I looked at my mother, she was still asleep, and I didn't want to wake her, so I accepted the pizza on her behalf. It went off into the other room and left the large pizza in the center of our table.

I grabbed for the plastic plate they had on the side and grabbed two slices of pizza. I must've inhaled them because there wasn't anything left on my plate. I ate only half of the pizza, so my mother could have some too, whenever she decided to wake up. After wiping my face with the napkin, I pushed myself off the side of the seat and snuck over into the game room. I figured my mother wouldn't mind me going off on my own, she'd know where to look for me, after all I was going to the game room after I ate.

Upon entering the game room, there were plenty of games, each requiring a certain amount of coins to play. I scanned the room, looking for some I could easily do, I figured playing the pachinko would be easiest since it only cost one coin and had a chance of dispersing a toy if I managed to knock it down far enough. I went over to it, fumbling in my pocket for a coin, and as I stood in front of the pachinko machine, I noticed something looking at me. Glancing around, it wasn't any of the children, so I looked back at the pachinko machine where I inserted the coin and mulled over the white buttons. If I hit the right button, I'd get a capsule with a toy inside and if I missed I'd lose out on a coin. I continued to mull it over until I went ahead and pushed the middle button. The white ball shot out from the ejector and proceeded downward, making the sliders move differently. I watched as the ball was coming closer to hitting the slider that had the capsule. However, it went the opposite way and fell to the bottom. I was a bit disappointed, I wanted the toy inside, but it wasn't enough for me to cry over and it was only a coin, so I moved on to another game.

As I went toward the skee-ball, I noticed I was being watched again. I glanced around and no one was paying attention to me that I see and my mother wasn't coming after me so it wasn't her either. Bemused, I went about putting in three coins into the slot and took up a yellow ball. I stuck my tongue out, trying to get a good idea of the layout and slung the ball. It rolled upward toward the center and tickets shot out of the dispenser. I slung the second ball and got the outer hole, more tickets spitting out, and after shooting the final ball into the tippy top hole I was done for that game. I collected my tickets, enough to warrant a trip over to the ticket master for a prize. I held onto my tickets as if they were fragile and as I stood in front of the glass, looking at the prizes, I noticed an odd thing hanging up on the wall. The body was black, smooth and lustrous, but the face… I am not sure how to describe it fully, but it was ghost white with fainted features, it had strings attached at every joint. It was held up to the ceiling, far from the children's tampering, and had a white sign on the chest, it cost well over any amount of tickets I actually had.

A gentleman came behind the counter and looked down at me, asking if I'd like to turn my tickets in for a prize. I looked around the shelves and asked for a miniature Freddy teddy bear, a gift to my mother for bringing me to the pizzeria. He nods and starts counting the tickets he would need for the transaction, he asks if I was curious about the Marionette. I, being a child, had no idea what the word meant and asked him. He responded that, the Marionette was sort of a puppet, a puppet that if a child had excellent skills in puppetry and ventriloquism, it'd be a proper toy. However, he seemed rather hesitant on talking about the Marionette; I asked him if anyone had tried to get the Marionette. He explained that, no one really wanted it, it was a rather niche toy and the tickets required was too great for a mere child to get it on his or her own. He goes on to say, rather hush as if he didn't want the Marionette to hear, that he'd be happy once someone claims it. I asked why he would want the Marionette gone, innocently as a child could get, and he simply answered, "It watches."

I wasn't sure what he meant, but glancing up to see the black holes where the eyes would've been and I sort of understood what he was getting at. That Marionette was creepy, creepier than most puppets that I've seen (which are plenty). I noticed a lavishly painted music box tucked on the shelf next to the Marionette, it had a sign that said "POSITIVELY NOT FOR REDEEMING". I asked the gentleman why the music box couldn't be redeemed, he simply replied that the Marionette apparently _liked_ the music box and in a very hushed tone of voice, he said "Without the music box, it moves on its own."

I being a child thought that it was very cool, but he assured me that it wasn't. He gave me the remaining tickets and turned around to get from the top of the shelf, the teddy bear. As he had his back turned I looked over to the Marionette. It was just hanging there, its head was hanging low and it didn't even look like anything more than a puppet. As I turned my head to look at the other toys in the display, I swore I saw its head turn toward me. I thought it was nothing and went about looking at the other toys, just thinking about what I could redeem with the remaining tickets. I received my teddy bear and I thanked the gentleman, and then asked if I could have an action figure behind the case. I figured I'd get myself something while I was at it and I handed back the tickets, he counts and gave me the pitiful remaining and fumbled around behind the counter, looking for the keys. He called out to a woman and asked if she'd seen the keys, she said to check the back and the gentleman said he be right back.

He disappeared and it was just me standing there, clenching my mother's gift close to my chest as I waited for the gentleman to return with the keys. I took the time to glance around the game room for a bit, the children scampered about; screaming nonsense that most would assume meant they were happy. I looked back at the ticket area and noticed the Marionette's face slightly ajar, looking somewhat at me. I continued to not think much about it, there was a vent just beside the head where there was air pouring out, so maybe the air pushed its head toward me.

As I stood, I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. Like, _I_ was being watched specifically, I figured it was just my own wild imagination, but for good measure, I looked behind me thinking my mother had woken up and went to find me. As I turned back, the Marionette was staring at me, and I am not joking when I say I swear it was following my movements. Subtly, I noticed it turning its head whenever I moved, so there was no chance it being my imagination. I kept from starring and had my feet planted firmly on the floor, and then I heard keys jingling, so I assumed it must've been the gentleman coming back. I looked around but he wasn't back, and I heard something dropping near the Marionette.

I guess I was too curious for my own good, as I etched my way toward the Marionette, wandering what it might've been. I stopped; standing right by the counter, at the feet of the Marionette was a set of keys. I didn't know where they've come from, because I didn't see them anywhere and neither did the gentleman. As I stood there, I pondered, if I get the keys, then I get my action figure and I'd head back to my mother. However, maybe the gentleman would think I might've done something and yell at me, I was very worried about being yelled at. So, ultimately, I left the keys alone, in hopes the man would come back to the counter and find them himself. As I moved away from the Marionette, I saw white specks following me, to the point where I think of them as the actual eyes rather than the black eyeless sockets I originally thought.

Being a child, I was timid and I didn't know what to say. I mean, what _could_ I say to the gentleman when he got back, that his keys somehow ended up by the Marionette—the same he claims ever so hushed that seemingly has something about it so unsettling he'd rather it be gone than continue its stay at the pizzeria. I was tempted to seek the gentleman out, but thankfully he came back with a befuddled look. He couldn't find the keys anywhere and was almost as confused as I was when he looked down to see them. "Huh, how could've I missed them?" he said to himself as he went to claim them, asking me as he went over to the Marionette if I still wanted the action figure. I replied and he nods, as he bent down to pick up the keys, he cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, whimpering. He held his hand and I followed the scene up to where the one of the Marionette's foot came loose and was right where the keys were. The gentleman cried out to the woman once more and henceforth she took over the counter while he went away for a while. She quickly grabbed for the action figure from behind the glass and handed it to me. With my toy and my mother's gift, I was happy enough to go back to her. However as I moved away from the counter, I felt a cold chill and was glad enough to head toward the exit when I… wanted another go at the pachinko machine.

Stupid, I know, but I couldn't help myself. Maybe another go will net me that stupid capsule with the toy, was my thought. So, I headed over to the pachinko machine again and noticed the capsule gone, as if someone else claimed it. However, all wasn't for naught as I spotted not one but _two_ capsules close together. If I hit the right button, I'd get two capsules and even if I hit the wrong one, I'd at least be able to get one of the capsules. I grabbed for the last coin I had and decided the closest button was the one. I was the ball move about, the sliders flipping and flopping and it smacked against the capsules and I watched as the capsules barely budged. I was disappointed and decided it was time head back. Of course, I looked over to where the Marionette was and it was… was… staring at me again, from across the room, I know this because there was no way it could've gotten that way without being touched. The foot was back to its normal position, hung up high from the grasps of clever children, but, I noticed at the feet of it… a capsule.

How was this possible? I wasn't sure. I wanted to just forget the stupid Marionette and head back to my mother who was probably wondering at this point where I've gone to assuming she hadn't already figured that I was in the game room. But, I did want a capsule from the pachinko machine… and I had no other coins left and I didn't want to ask my mother for more, so I just… did a very stupid thing of going back toward the Marionette while the woman who took over the counter wasn't present. I stood there, wielding my action figure and my mother's gift, there at the feet of the Marionette was a clear capsule with a toy of some sort just sitting there. Seeing the gentleman cry out in pain at what happened to his hand, whatever did actually happen, was enough to encourage me not to attempt faith. However, the capsule was too much for me to ignore, so I took a deep breath and sat my prizes down and slowly etched my way to the capsule. What could a Marionette do to me?

As I neared, the eyes were watching me, I was sure at this point I was next. I felt my heart race and tested out all the possible outcomes in my head. If I was lucky, I get it without an incident. If I wasn't lucky, I would be the next one to cry. So, my hand was dead near the capsule and the Marionette looked stagnant and didn't look like anything was amiss. I held my breath and sent my hand charging, I grabbed the capsule pulled far as back as possible without falling, and snatched up my prizes in one fell swoop. As I fixed myself I looked at the Marionette, it was still there, not moving and its eyes at the ground. I didn't understand it myself, but looking back at it, maybe it didn't like the gentleman talking about it behind its back, or maybe it just hated being held up by strings.

Whatever the case may be, I wasn't going to understand properly until I gotten older. My mother finally woke up and went looking for me, she found me near the pachinko machine, deadlocked with the Marionette that stared at the ground. I snapped out of it and presented my mother her gift and she was of course happy. I never told her what I got in the capsule, because between you and me it'd be damning if I told her what the little bastard left for me.

See, when we got home, my mother went into the den to pay bills and I was left in my room playing with my new action figure. As I played, I noticed red liquid pooling from the capsule as I had it lopsided. I figured it was the toy Goop and I wanted one for a while so I went popped open the capsule. To my displeasure, I didn't find the toy, but I found something worse. I found the gentleman's finger. How was I going to explain _that_ to my mother?

I wasn't proud what I did, I just threw it away, wiped up the blood and… and simply hoped to never go back to Freddy's. Never, did I ever want to go back. After a few years, our family's income was far better than it was originally, so my mother asked if I'd like to go back to Freddy's as a treat for acing a test. I never had forgotten that day, so I simply asked if I could instead go to the new pizzeria that opened a block down from Freddy's. She agreed and instead of Freddy's, we went to Alice's Adventures in Pizzaland.

I'm pretty damn sure that Marionette's still there, and if it isn't I hope to God… that I never meet anyone who's actually gotten the Marionette, assuming that of course that he or she survived. Then again, with what happened to both pizzerias later down the line, I'm pretty damn glad to have gotten away from it all, since I've since moved to Nevada.

Marionette, Marionette, wherever you are… did you mean to give me the finger…. Or were you implying an equal fate for me too…?


End file.
